Wo shaam mastani :D

*Giggles* Yep I do not believe the cheesiness of the title :D But somehow this struck and now this is stuck :) 

Enough of my pjs. Let me come to main mudda. Hua yun ki yesterday K came home early. *Giggles* And I was like yayyyyyyyyyyy. After 4 years 3 months and 6 days of marriage, his coming back from work fills me with glee. And if he comes home early its like sone pe suhaga. I literally welcome him like a puppy welcomes its master. (Yes he does call me puppy/poppy). So yesterday when he came home early (with K's schedules normal time is early) but yesterday he was really seriously early. I could not believe my ears when I heard him turn the lock in the door. And when he stepped inside, I gave him the widest grins. It was raining, the weather was murky, everything was damp, dull and cold. But when he stepped inside - it was absolute yayyyyyy. :) (You can see I am at a loss of words - I was that happy!) 

Since I had daddy taking care of darling daughter, I had some time at hand. He had asked me since quite a few days to make some vermicelli kheer. I was always hard pressed for time for the same. So I took the opportunity to make some. And we always make it a point to make some special dishes extra so that K can hand some over to his bachelor friends. So I made quite a big load.We savored some amount of the hot pudding. Then it was time to video conference with the grannies back in India. After spending some time, I went off for a little walk within the apartment. Day in and out I do most of the stuff at home myself and also manage to take care of the baby. But with K around yesterday I realised, how much of a help an extra hand was! I had time to myself, to just go blank. Flipping through the pages of the novel without having to keep glancing at what the kiddo was doing, was in itself a blessing. Bless him!

Now a dark, dreadful and depressing rainy evening deserves one thing - yep - Ginger TEA! So I spruced up two nice cuppas. We all huddled in one cosy bed - K reading comics, Chiyaa cooing and playing and I investigating my new phone. (Let me take this opportunity to reveal that K gifted me an iPhone 4s. I am a technically challenged person and centuries behind the latest gadgets. But I have my sister and my cousins mentoring and tutoring me and making me slowly but surely hooked onto the phone.)

We barely noticed how well and how swiftly time just flew. As the clock inched towards 2100 hours, we made our way to the living for it was time for The Apprentice. Episode done, it was nighty night. After a truly wonderful and enchanting evening - in spite of the rains :)

Beatrice and Virgil

Ever so often I come across a book which rankles something inside. Beatrice and Virgil happened to be one of them.

I picked the book at the library since it came from the author Yann Martel - the writer of " The Life of Pi" which is one of my much loved books. The back cover of the book says " This is the story a donkey named Beatrice and a monkey named Virgil. It is also the story of an extraordinary journey undertaken by a man named Henry." Bizzare eh? It is. The way the author uses animals to communicate about an important event is stirring, unique and very very original. 

The book is written in a very simple tone. It is so simple that it keeps you gripped. The book has just 2 main human characters. In spite of it, the writer somehow manages to keep the narration very taut - so much so that it feels like a thriller novel. But it is not. Another striking facet of the book is the eerie environment that the author manages to create. It does not have any ghosts or ghouls or evil spirits, but the way the author paints the picture of even a sunlit room - makes you apprehensive of what might be lurking in the corners. The same goes for descriptions of some scenes and scenarios. Without being verbose, the writer has many a times painted a soul stirring picture.

If I highlight the good bits of the book, I might end up putting the whole book here. But then I cannot finish this post without the wow parts. So there you go savor some

• Just as music is noise that makes sense, a painting is color that makes sense, so a story is a life that makes sense.
• In his entirely personal experience of them, English was jazz music, German was classical music, French was ecclesiastical music and Spanish was music from the streets. Which is to say, stab his heart and it would bleed French, slice his brain open and its convolutions would be lined with English and German, and touch his hands and they would feel Spanish. ( This is the author's description of the man who knew the 4 languages. I have not read such a unique comparison and explanation ever!)
• Life and death live and die in exactly the same spot, the body. It is from there both babies and cancers are born. To ignore death, then, is to ignore life.
• Creative block is no laughing matter, or only to those sodden spirits who've never tried to make their personal mark. It's not just a particular endeavour, a job, that is negated, it's your whole being. It's the dying of a small god within you, a part you thought might have immortality. When you're creatively blocked, you're left with - Henry looked around the workshop - you're left with dead skins.
• To my mind, faith is like being in the sun. When you are in the sun, can you avoid creating a shadow? Can you shake that area of darkness that clings to you,always shaped like you, as if constantly to remind you of yourself? You can't. This shadow is doubt. And it goes where ever you go as long as you stay in the sun. (This is a part of analogy between faith and sun and the juxtapositiong of faith and doubt. Simple yet so effective!)
• Once you have been struck by violence, you acquire companions that never leave you entirely: Suspicion, Fear, Anxiety, Despair, Joylessness.

Well... I have added some length to my post just by quoting the author. The book is not for everyday reading. But after reading its impossible to forget.

Fare thee well till we meet again

Friends are some of the dearest gifts in life. I am blessed to have some real darlings in my life. 

It was a chance trip to  Wales that ended up in me being friends with B. It started off with small talk, but slowly the boundaries and the hesitations were lost as we forged a new friendship. Our mutual interest for walks was a facet that bonded us. It started off evening walks and step up sessions. We then hit upon another common interest - cooking. So there ensued swapping of recipes, dishes, sites with recipes and the whole nine yards. She was wonderful company for shopping and we spend quite a bit of time strolling the streets. I am not into shopping but with her it was fun somehow. Her vivaciousness was contagious. I will forever remember those chats in coffee shops and the frenzy with which she used to take photographs. She never missed a moment and lived each to the hilt. There were many evenings over the weekends later once we moved houses, when even if we were not hanging out together, we spent long hours chatting over the internet. 

I will always remember the long weekend of Easter last year, where we spent every single day doing something fun.We in fact even spent a day studying! Ironically it was fun doing so with someone whose company you enjoyed. She was major help bringing me dishes I craved for during my pregnancy days. She was also a dear to load my iPod with good devotional music so that I did nt end up listening to only the catchy numbers I am generally hooked to :D She always reached out to me for advise and I always felt like an elder sister to her. I was at many times brutal in my advise to her. If I felt she was wrong, I did not hold it back at all. I hope she appreciated it :)I hope :)

The news of her travel back to India came as a surprise to me for sure. Somehow I felt as if someone who was as close as family was leaving. We spent a lot of time in the evenings towards the end. It was real fun chatting and discussing stuff. And she was an angel to cook  dinner for us while I took care of the munchkin. I was very glad that she chose to spend the last night in Leeds at our home. Though I was not able to spend a lot of time with her and chat till the wee hours, which I would have so loved - it felt nice that she was around. 

The morning of her travel came as any other. I was filled with a bitter-sweet emotion as I bid her goodbye. I know we will surely meet each other back in India. I know she would be with her parents and siblings in 24 hours time and would so so so love it. I know many better things would come her way with this movement. But then I was going to miss her terribly. 

Good luck dear friend! 

Of great weekends and sunny Sundays

For the first time I did not resent the Monday. In spite of being a full time mom, I still hate Mondays.

But not this week.

The gorgeous Saturday started with K being at home.So I got time to work on a project of mine. I was trying to make a decorative piece for my kitten now that shes started looking around. So while K minded her, I was able to complete my piece. It took a day and looks amateurish, but then I was happy with the results :)

Sunday was frigid but sunnnnnnnnnnnny!! And I LOVE THE SUN! So at once I suggested we make a trip to a park. Got ready in a jiffy and packed ourselves for the tour. We took a good long stroll for close to an hour in the park. Finally when the sun started shying away, we decided to make the trek home. It was again another splendid walk with the sun playing hide and seek with the clouds. We thought of venturing to the library, but noticed that the timings had changed. To make use of the time we had at hand, we spent some time in the local museum.

K loves museums and his interest is contagious. I tried to look around at the sections of interest to me. But then I got tired after a bit and took to being with my daughter on a bench. After K was done with his wanderings, we were both famished. We treated ourselves to buffet at Spice Quarters. The lil one was cooperative to some extent. We took turns eating and at a point, where she would not rest, I held her while K fed me. :) Thank God there was not much of a crowd else it would have been embarrassing. Food done, library was the last stop after which it was homie home. 

Sun, Sunday, scrumptious food and stimulating time - who is scared of Mondays?  

General khair khabar

Just had a long Easter weekend which was a welcome respite. So these are the small  itsy bitsy happenings in my world. 

• Friday managed to step out to a mall. It was the very first time since guddlu was born. And it was so refreshing. Since it was a baby friendly mall, we managed to deliver the regular feeds to munch bunch and roamed around for close to 5 hours. We even dined in a restaurant while the baby slept like an angel. It was refreshing.
• Saturday we had plans to go the local farmer's market. There is a lady who during my pregnancy was insistent that I come over and show the baby once its born.  I went to pay her a visit. And boy she was happy. She came over and hugged me and congratulated me. It was really a very warm moment for me which I shall cherish for ever. That followed a really scrumptious breakfast of crepes. I even inquired at the local health club for the swimming facilities. I am not sure when and how I can ever manage to get going, but getting the facts with me seemed like a first step enough :) The afternoon made another trip to the library where I was able to lay my hands on some really amazing books. Woo hoooooooooooooooo.
• Sunday came up to date on all the episodes of MTV Roadies 9 :) 
• Btw also watched Paan Singh Tomar. It is a brilliant movie to say the least. I am doing the propaganda of this movie to whoever I meet. It is a must must must watch.
• A friend I made here is moving back to India. I am going to miss her terribly since I had spent some really amazing time with her. So Easter Monday we both took to the city center  for her last shopping spree. It was real fun to help her in her shopping. She was filled with nostalgia and so was I. But we were happy that we were able to afford a day to spend with each other. Like old times, we sat at a coffee shop and chatted. The last we had done that, I was pregnant. Now I was there with a baby in tow. How fast things move! And I felt strangely enabled and emboldened   by the fact that I was mobile and out and about with a baby.
• And yesterday I ventured just with the kiddo for some shopping. These are baby steps I am taking to the being I used to be before I was a mother - so each tiny step is a special something :)